We proudly look back on December 2025, during which 27 young heroes
successfully completed our residential Empowerment training. In the
video, they take you along in their personal insights.
YES wishes them, and everyone watching, a 2026 filled with confidence and growth!
A warm brasa (hug) from Suriname,
Apana van Leeuwaarde
For weekly updates on our projects, follow us on Facebook.
As our loyal followers know, YES is actively engaged throughout the entire school year with our Empowerment projects.
Our young people are taking brave steps and are the stars of Suriname’s future.
I would like to share a poem with you, written by one of our students who
has an extraordinary talent for poetry. If you’re also moved by
by this young talent, it would be wonderful to encourage her by leaving a comment.
A warm brasa (hug) from Suriname,
Apana van Leeuwaarde
– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –
“to the girl who survived”
i know you.
i know how you curl into yourself when no one is looking.
how you bite your tongue until it bleeds,
because some pains are safer when they stay hidden.
i know how you carry it
the night that never ended.
the hands that never asked.
the silence you were forced to swallow.
i know the shame that isn’t yours but feels welded to your bones.
i know the nights you wanted to tear your skin off,
just to escape the memory of being touched without kindness.
i know the guilt.
i know the fury.
i know the moments when you hated your own body
for betraying you,
for surviving.
i know the way you thought healing meant forgetting,
and how cruel it felt when you couldn’t.
but listen.
listen.
healing isn’t forgetting.
healing is remembering
and still choosing to live.
healing is waking up on the worst days
and saying,
“i will stay.”
even when every part of you wants to disappear.
healing is crying so hard your ribs ache,
and still reaching for the next breath.
the next step.
the next hour.
you are not broken beyond repair.
you never were.
you are a wound
that chose to become a scar.
you are a scar
that chose to become a story.
you are a story
still being written
in hands trembling,
but unafraid.
they hurt you.
but they did not end you.
you are still here.
and you are
even now, even broken, even aching
beautiful.
not because you are untouched.
but because you touched the fire
and you lived.
and you still
choose
to love the ash-covered girl in the mirror.
and that
is the bravest thing in the world.
Esperanza T., age 15
Short version of our impact report… YES!
Dear YES followers,
Our new school year 2024-2025 started in Suriname in October, which means YES is back at work with new groups of young people. I don't think I'll ever get tired of seeing the enthusiasm in their eyes, their hunger for development, the vulnerability of their personal stories, and their desire to better understand themselves and the world!
YES hecht veel waarden aan impactmetingen van het werk wat wij doen. We doen bij al onze projecten o.a. nulmetingen en nametingen, alle data wordt verwerkt door de psycholoog en in rapportages verwerkt. Ik heb dit keer gevraagd om over het afgelopen schooljaar, naast de uitgebreide versie voor de donoren, ook een short version te maken die geen wetenschappelijke termen heeft en makkelijk leesbaar is. Ik hoop dat jullie het leuk vinden om te lezen, lees alles onderaan deze pagina.
Thank you for your support and interest in our mission!
For weekly updates on our ongoing projects, follow us on Facebook.
YES WE CAN!
Brasa (hug) from Suriname, Apana van Leeuwaarde
It was an intensive project year with great successes, but also challenges. The strikes in education were not easy for YES, as they disrupted the continuity of our trainings. This year, we also increasingly encountered more distressing home situations among our young people, which often left us feeling extremely powerless. Yet one thing remains certain, throughout this school year, we have once again carried out all our projects with heart and soul: The Empowerment trainings level 1 and 2, the motivation days for final-year students, the Empowerment program for girls, and the Empowerment training for parents and caregivers. All our young people are absolute stars. They have taken courageous steps they sometimes never thought possible. They are ready to continue their path with more self-confidence and a backpack full of Empowerment tools.
A YES STUDENT:
“I could be who I really am and I wasn't judged.”
When coach Apana asked me if I wanted to write a piece for the newsletter, my answer was of course immediately “Yes!”
My name is Stephanie, and I took my first YES Empowerment training course when I was fourteen. I was the youngest participant in the group at the time. I am now 18 and have taken several YES training courses since then. Thanks to YES, I have learned to be more assertive in my communication and to better deal with challenges in my life.
What makes the YES trainings so special to me is how the coaches treat us. They have so much respect for us and they just understand us. I felt truly seen and it felt so safe that I dared to share my deepest emotions! I was able to share pains and difficult experien
ces that I never dared to discuss before. I could be who I really am and I was not judged.
The coaches helped me learn how to deal with my emotions better. I gained insights that gave me confidence, which I didn't really have before. I became aware of how events from my past influence me and my choices and behavior. Thanks to YES, I have gained insight into my own thoughts and feelings and have learned how to deal with them in a positive way. I can proudly say that I am a true “Yesser”!
I graduated from high school this month. The training also helped me with that. I will carry the skills and knowledge I gained at YES with me for the rest of my life. “I'm a Yesser for life.” I now want to study psychology so that I can help other young people too.
I would like to thank everyone who supports YES. Thanks to your contributions, young people like me, who are facing many challenges, can get a chance to understand themselves better and make conscious choices for their development and a better future.
Greetings from Stephanie in Suriname
Project during the holidays
We have now started the initial preparations for the project that we always carry out during the long holidays, our Residential Empowerment Training. For updates in the coming period, follow us on Facebook.
We wish everyone a wonderful holiday season and thank you for your support and interest in our mission!
YES WE CAN!
Brasa (hug) from Suriname,
Apana van Leeuwaarde
